Late Night Bath
by chibijem
Summary: Akane seeks relief in a bath and finds Yorihisa....


Late Night Bath

By

Chibijem

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters herein and am making no financial gain from this work or fiction.

A/N: The idea for this story came from one of the late night chats between my Imoto and I; we both love the anime Gakuen Heaven and I am partial to Niwa and love the image of him in the bath, a tiny towel wrapped around his hips. So Imoto promptly puts my favorite Harukanaru character, Yorihisa, into my head with the same attire and then says, "You should write a story with Akane with him in just a towel." So I have to thank her for the idea and the lovely image….I hope you like it.

The Ryuujin no Miko could not sleep and was walking through the gardens on Fuji-hime's estate, enjoying the light summer breeze. It was very late and the whole of Kyou was slumbering so why couldn't she? Looking over to the samurai's quarters, she spied one darkened room. Several days ago, Yorihisa and some of his men had been asked by the Emperor to assist Tomomasa in investigating thieves plaguing the pathways to and from Kyou. She was concerned for both of them but more so for the tall samurai; they had recently begun courting much to the delight of the rest of the Hachiyo and Fuji-hime.

Akane strolled by the koi pond, up the bridge and back around to the main house; the walk was not helping her relax. She then noticed there was a dim light coming from the bath house. _Who could that be? Everyone is asleep. Well, everyone but me,_ she thought sourly, stepping towards the building._ Perhaps someone left a lamp burning? Maybe a bath would help me sleep._ She quietly slid the shoji open and slipped inside. As she turned the corner, her heart stopped for there was the object of her thoughts: Yorihisa. She could feel her cheeks flame as she saw he was naked. She must have gasped because he turned his head swiftly and started reaching for his sword.

"Miko-dono!" He quickly seized a small towel to cover himself instead.

"Yo….Yorihisa-san," She stammered and moved fully into the bathing room, eyed averted. "Gomen ne, I saw the light and thought someone had left a lamp burning." She explained. "Okaerinasai." She added, looking through her pink bangs and smiling at him.

"Arigatou," He replied, returning her shy smile. He then became concerned. "It's very late, you should be sleeping."

"I've been having trouble getting to sleep lately." She admitted.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, turning fully to her, making sure the towel remained covering his private parts. "Maybe I should send for the healer?"

"Iie," she reassured him, glancing at him, shaking her head, laughing lightly. It always amused her when he overreacted when something bothered her. He always took his responsibility as a Hachiyo very seriously "It will pass." She told him coming closer. "I was thinking maybe a bath would help." She saw color rising in her Hachiyo's cheeks. "Do you mind?" She pointed out the room.

Yorihisa swallowed, "Miko-do…." At the look of displeasure on said Miko's face, he quickly revised his words. "Akane-dono, this is not…."

"Proper." They both said at the same time.

"You know it is not," He finished. "We may be courting, but….but you should not be in here, alone with me. Let me finish and you may have the bath to yourself." He turned back and attempted to complete his bath.

Akane shook her head and stepped up behind the man she loved. "May I help? You're missing parts of your back."

Yorihisa froze when her tiny hand reached over his shoulder and took the soapy cloth from him. "Akane?"

"Relax. I'm not planning on taking advantage of you." She teased, running the wash cloth over his strong, wide back. She felt the knotted muscles and began working them out; she leaned down to press a kiss against the ear that held his dragon jewel. "You are so tense. Relax," she repeated.

__

Relax?! How does she expect me to relax when she's washing me, caressing me? The blue haired samurai thought and then let out a groan when she kneaded one particularly sore spot. "That feels so good." The last word drawn out with pleasure.

"Were you and Tomomasa-san successful?" She reached for the water bucket to begin rinsing Yorihisa off.

"Hai," He replied, tipping his head forward. "Though the matter may need more attention later." He laid his head back when Akane's hand urged him to; he felt the tie holding his hair slipping from his long locks and then water running through the length of it.

"More complicated?" She began washing the thick blue mass. _His hair feels better than I imagined and no one but me will ever wash it again,_ she vowed.

"Hmmm, it seems the thieves are part of a larger group."

"You'll catch them." She laid the bucket aside after dousing his hair, leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "All done." She returned the smile he gave her. "Why don't you soak?" She gazed at him as he took a larger towel, wrapped it around his hips, moved to a smaller shoji and pushed it open, letting the moonlight flood the room. She saw that he kept his back turned to her as he sat in the soaking tub to give her some privacy for her own bath. She quickly washed, rinsed and wrapped another towel around her body. She moved to the tub and gratefully sank into the hot water. "Oooo, this is heaven." She sighed.

Yorihisa lifted his head from where he had rested it against the tub's edge and studied her. He noticed she looked tired and promised himself he would see to it she rested for the next few days. He took his arms, which had rested along the ledge of the tub, and reached for yet another towel. He rolled it and moved to Akane; with gentle hands he raised her head and slipped the makeshift bolster underneath. "Better?" He asked making the bold move to sit beside her.

She turned her head to look at him, "Much." She took one if his large hands in hers. "Why did you return in the middle of the night?"

Yorihisa looked down into the steamy water, "We were so close to Kyou and we wanted to return to our homes." He said tentatively. "I wanted to come home to you. I missed you." He answered truthfully.

"Yorihisa," His name on her lips was a balm to him. "I missed you too." She said tugging on his wet hair so he leaned towards her. Their lips met and each felt complete as they hadn't been since he had departed for the mission.

"Akane," he sighed.

The two remained for almost an hour until Yorihisa felt Akane's head fall onto his shoulder. He smiled tenderly when he saw she had fallen asleep. Now he was in a quandary: should he wake her so she could make her own way to bed or let her sleep and carry her. He carefully maneuvered the Miko so he could climb out of the tub. Once he dressed in a clean yukata, he made sure the towel she had wrapped around herself was secure and gently lifted her out of the water. He laid her on one of the benches and took another yukata and clad her in it, removing her towel only when she was properly covered. _She is exhausted; she has not stirred this whole time._

As he was making his way to her private rooms, carrying his precious burden, he met Tomomasa who was with Takamichi. He knew the vice minister had been staying with Fuji-hime, assisting the tiny princess with her library organizing project. He braced himself upon seeing the contemplative look the general was sending his way with Takamichi smiling. "Tomomasa-dono., Takamichi-dono." He greeted.

"Yorihisa." The teal haired Hachiyo answered. Tomomasa knew Yorihisa was most trustworthy and behaved honorably when it came to the Ryuujin no Miko. He smiled when he saw how nervous the samurai was becoming. He tapped his fan thoughtfully against one cheek. "I hope you left plenty of hot water for us." He teased.

"Tomomasa!" Takamichi, with surprising speed, snatched the fan from the general's fingers and smacked him on the head with it. "Honestly." The vice minister strode away towards the bath house.

"I bid you a good night." The eldest Hachiyo said and moved with quick steps to catch up to his partner.

Yorihisa smiled as he could hear the duo's fading conversation; he was sure Tomomasa would be very repentant before the night was over. He gazed down at Akane, who remained asleep, as she mumbled in her sleep. He smiled tenderly and continued on his way.

FIN


End file.
